Chase suspect still in hospital

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Tuesday

May 3, 2011 at 12:20 AM

A Main Street man who jumped from a railroad bridge trying to escape police after a car chase remained hospitalized last night.

Jerome Smith, 33, of 1550 Main. St., faces charges of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, malicious destruction of property worth more than $250, resisting arrest, two counts of possession of a large capacity feeding device, and two counts of possession of ammunition and a firearm without a firearm identification card. Mr. Smith is expected to be arraigned this week. He suffered several broken bones when he jumped from a railroad bridge off Cambridge Street, according to police.

The incident began when police were called to Albert Street about 1:55 a.m. Friday on a report of shots being fired. When police arrived, a witness reported seeing a vehicle speed down Grand Street. Nobody was injured, but Officer Anthony Consiglio spotted a black SUV backing down Albert Street as his cruiser approached.

The vehicle, described as a BMW SUV, was driven erratically and at high speed, and repeatedly struck the curb and ran stop signs.

The officer pulled his cruiser up to the driver’s side door of the SUV, and the suspect got out with his hands up. Before the officer could get out of his cruiser, the suspect ran east on Cambridge Street, down the sidewalk over the railroad bridge. When Officer Consiglio caught up to the suspect, the suspect jumped up onto the guardrail.

“I yelled to him to stop, but he continued to go over. I tried to grab hold of him, but only got his pants,” the officer wrote.

A search of the SUV yielded a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun on the front seat. Police later found shell casings outside 8 Albert St., and two bullet holes in the front of the building.

Mr. Smith was also charged with driving a motor vehicle after license revocation, four stop sign violations and driving a motor vehicle so as to endanger.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.